Little Hands Learning Center

R 400.8213(1)(a) · R 400.8213(1)(a) Staff; volunteer (1) All staff and volunteers present at the center shall: (a) Provide appropriate care and supervision o f children at all times. 2 LANDMARK BUILDING • 105 W. ALLEGAN STREET • LANSING, MICHIGAN 48933 Michigan.gov/MiLEAP

Program Administrator did not ensure that all staff provided appropriate care and supervision. On 04/16/2025, Teacher 1 left Child A outside without supervision. Teacher 1 thought she saw an individual arrive to pick Child A up. She did not verify who the person was, she let Child A out of the door and walked back to her classroom. It is unknown how long Child A was outside without supervision.

View state record

R 400.8266(2) · R 400.8266(2) Incident, accident, injury, illness, death, fire reporting (2) A licensee, licensee designee, or program administrator shall report to the child's parent on the same day of the incident and to the department within 24 hours, directly or via phone, fax, or email, if a child is lost or left unsupervised.

Licensee designee Christepher Cross and Program Administrator did not ensure that the department was notified within 24 hours that Child A was left outside without supervision. Program Administrator stated that she was new to the licensing and did not know that that she was supposed to report the incident to the bureau. This incident occurred on 04/16/2025, and Christepher Cross stated that he was not made aware that the incident occurred until the beginning of October.

View state record

R 400.8266(5) · 3 LANDMARK BUILDING • 105 W. ALLEGAN STREET • LANSING, MICHIGAN 48933 Michigan.gov/MiLEAP R 400.8266(5) Incident, accident, injury, illness, death, fire reporting (5) A licensee, licensee designee, or program administrator shall submit a written report to the department of the occurrences outlined in subrules (1) to (4) of this rule, in a format provided by the department, within 72 hours of the verbal report to t he department.

Licensee designee Christepher Cross and Program Administrator failed to report that Child A was found unsupervised outside to the bureau within 72 hours.

View state record

R 400.8125 · R 400.8125 Staff; volunteer; requirements. (1) All staff and volunteers shall provide appropriate care and supervision of children at all times.

On 08/16/2023, I made phone contact with the complainant. The complainant reports that they have observed CCSM 3 to sleep in the classroom while children are in care on multiple occasions and has had to wake CCSM 3 up. The complainant believes that this issue has been brought to the attention of licensee designee and program director Kathleen VanDonkelaar; however, nothing has been done to correct it. The complainant has safety concerns for the children if they leave the classroom while CCSM 3 is sleeping. The complainant believes that there are child care staff members that have also observed CCSM 3 sleeping while children are in care. On 08/16/2023, I did an onsite inspection, and completed interviews with program director, Kathleen VanDonkelaar, child care staff member 1 (CCSM 1), CCSM 2 and CCSM 3. Kathleen VanDonkelaar denied ever seeing or hearing about a staff member that is sleeping while children are in care. She stated that sometimes her staff will lay down with children during rest time to assist them in falling asleep, and it may look like 2 they are sleeping, but she has not seen or been made aware of any staff members that are actually sleeping. CCSM 1 knows of CCSMs in the past at the old license location that have fallen asleep with children in care; however, they have all either been let go, or quit. None of those staff members are employed at the current location. CCSM 1 denies ever seeing or hearing about staff members sleeping while children are in care. CCSM 1 has seen CCSMs laying down with children to assist them in falling asleep but has never seen a CCSM actually sleeping. Kathleen VanDonkelaar and CCSM 3 are the staff members that come in early, sometimes as early as 4:30am but most often 5:30am. All of the children from the earliest drop off to 7:30am go to the sleeping room when they arrive. At 7:30am, all of the children have breakfast and break off into their normal rooms. The early drop off children typically go back to sleep once they arrive. If a child that arrives before 7:30am does not want to sleep, they can go into another room if a CCSM is available. CCSM 2 has observed CCSM 3 to sleep while children are in the care of CCSM 3. CCSM 3 comes to work at 5:30am and watches the children that get dropped off early, in the room closest to the office. Children are typically in that room from opening at 4:30am at the earliest, but most days 5:30am until 7:30am when other CCSMs come in and the children break off into their normal classrooms. Kathleen VanDonkelaar and CCSM 3 are usually the only staff members there until the rest of the leads arrive between 6:30am or 7:30am. When CCSM 3 is sleeping in the room, CCSM 3 is the only staff member responsible for the children. Last week, CCSM 3 was observed to be sleeping every day. This week CCSM 3 was observed to be sleeping while there were two children awake. This is the first time that CCSM 2 has seen CCSM 3 to be sleeping while children are awake. Typically, when children are dropped off early and brought into the napping room, they will all go back to sleep. If there is a child that does not fall back asleep before they transition to their normal classroom, that child will go into another classroom, so they do not disturb the children sleeping and so that they have an alternative activity. CCSM 2 believes that Kathleen VanDonkelaar is aware that CCSM 3 sleeps while children are in care. There have been times that CCSM 3 is sleeping and other CCSMs walk in and make noise, and CCSM 3 still does not wake up. There are no alarms on the doors or anything from preventing a child from leaving the room. CCSM 3 admitted to falling asleep with children in care. CCSM 3 confirmed that they arrive for work around 5:30am and are alone in the napping room with the children. CCSM 3 stated that the room is dark to allow for children to go back to sleep. CCSM 3 will put headphones on and listen to a podcast and sometimes falls asleep. CCSM 3 reports that when initia

View state record